Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Paganism in H.O.D. and Painted Bird

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Kamila Wojciechowicz THE ROLE OF PAGANISM AND GREEK TRAGEDY IN H.O.D. AND PAINTED BIRD In my oral presentation, I would like to discuss the role of paganism present in Painted Bird and H.O.D. Paganism, which means in Latin "rustic" or "country dweller" refers to all people, who celebrate all kinds of rituals and traditions that do not have Christian origins. The following term has a pejorative connotation, therefore it is replaced frequently by terms: polytheism, shamanism or animism. Mythology, such as Scandinavian or Greek are important examples of paganism, which determined the Pre-Christian Europeans. In paganism, Gods had different roles to fulfill. Freya(norse) and Aphrodite(greek) or Venus(roman) were goddesses responsible for love, passion, beauty and to some extent fertility. Freya however, had many a more roles to play in Norse mythology. Apart for the functions already mentioned, she was the goddess responsible for wars, battles, death, magic and telling the future. This part of a 12th century Swedish tapestry has been interpreted to show, from left to right, the one-eyed Odin, the hammer-wielding Thor and Freyr holding up an ear of corn. This triad corresponds closely to the trifunctional division: Odin is the patron of priests and magicians, Thor of warriors, and Freyr of fertility and farming.[1] Stupid Ludmila is a character invented by Jerzy Kosinski, the author of P.B. ...read more.

Middle

"The women held Ludmila down flat against the grass. They sat on her hands and legs and began beating her with rakes, ripping her skin with their fingernails, tearing out her hair, spitting into her face. When the last woman finished kicking, Ludmila was dead." What is even more surprising, is that she fits the scheme of a "painted bird sacrifice". Stupid Ludmila becomes the "sacrifice" since she lives in isolation an therefore does not exactly belong anywhere. In tribal mentality, there was no place for any exceptions since it decreased the chances of survival. Ludmila, therefore had to be exterminated (not to mention the hatred and jealousy village women felt towards her). Kurtz's tribal wife is also an extraordinary character in Joseph Conrad's H.O.D, even though the author has devoted her only a few pages. Here is a fragment of H.O.D, which is a profound characterization of the lady:"She walked with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed cloths, treading the earth proudly, with a slight jingle and flash of barbarous ornaments. She had innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step." According to African culture, she could have been regarded as a beauty and even the narrator characterizes her as a fascinating and gorgeous woman. ...read more.

Conclusion

The African woman might have known Kurtz's fate, which was why she could not bear her helplessness and casts a shadow upon the steamboat ."Her face had the tragic and fierce aspect of wild sorrow and of dumb pain mingled with the fear of some struggling, half shaped resolve. Pain and resolve are motives present in both female characters I have chosen to analyze. In order to continue the endless coil of birth and rebirth, they had to sacrifice their selves. Ludmila had to unwillingly pay it with her life, while the African woman by forsaking the man for whom she felt unutterable passion(that's at least what I presume. Would she have any other reasons to despair so much?). Taking everything into account, Ludmila and the African woman appear to have many features in common and yet seem to be connected with Freya, the primary Norse goddess I have mentioned at the beginning of my presentation. Freya, as we remember was responsible for fertility, love and passion, which are attributes close top Stupid Ludmila. However, Freya was as well the goddess of war, magic, death and prophecy which refers to Kurtz's tribal wife. It seems that both literary characters play complementary roles determined by the 3rd function of pagan gods and wild nature they represent. Thank you for listening so attentively to my oral presentation. Do you have any questions? ?? ?? ?? ?? 1 ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate World Literature section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related International Baccalaureate World Literature essays

  1. Commentary on O. Henry's "Gift of a Magi".

    This is because of the Della and Jim's willingness to give which describes the main point of the theme. The mood can also be warmth and happiness because the theme that is put across can make the reader feel warmth and happiness.

  2. The Allusion to Mythology of Cassandra in Cassandra with a Tail by Blaga Dimitrova ...

    Wise. With Cottony steps. (line 4-12) Evidently, the portrayal of the cat in the first stanza is a representation of Cassandra and her oracular powers. The use of extended metaphor such as "smoke" and "half-moon eyes" gives a mystical sense, but also illuminates obscurity and the cat's acute sense of perception or prophecy.

  1. Catcher in the Rye Oral presentation

    The ducks vanish every winter, but they return every spring, thus symbolizing change that isn't permanent, but that goes round in a cycle. The pond itself also becomes a minor metaphor for the world as Holden sees it, because it is "partly frozen and partly not frozen."

  2. Discuss the isolation of the narrator in Ernest Hemingway's In Another Country

    THE BIG LOSS OF THE MAJOR Human beings are used to the word "WAR." In fact, the history of any country is built up by fighting, revolutions, competitions, rebellions, etc. which are all different forms of the war. People may have their own definitions of war but I define "War is loss!"

  1. Free essay

    To Kill A Mocking Bird Chapter 1

    Scout recounts how, as a boy, Boo got in trouble with the law and his father imprisoned him in the house as punishment. He was not heard from until fifteen years later, when he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors.

  2. Essay on The Elephant Vanishes, by Haruki Murakami

    This sounds like the utmost mundane profession conceivable. The man has no spark or interest to him and to top it off he has ?coffee and toast,? (308) for breakfast. Murakami?s characters often exhibit apathy towards their own lives but they also are rarely given any personality or uniqueness to them.

  1. To what extent was President Richard Nixon responsible in the Watergate scandal in 1972-1974?

    Carl Bernstein joined the story a little while later when he tried to help Woodward ?polish? his work. Throughout their investigation Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had a lot of difficulty compiling their story and were criticized for their vague or even ?false sources?, every time they spoke to someone

  2. Symbolism in The Sorrow of War "

    They never flew, they only cried among the branches.? (Ninh 6), it is described that birds cry like human beings. This imagery of small pretty birds crying like human beings, gives the reader a feeling of pity for the Vietnamese people affected by the war.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work